Bistro 1858 café now accepts bitcoin, demonstrates leap toward greater blockchain adoption in Canada.
After being the first of the Big 4 consultancy firms to install a Bitcoin ATM (“BTM”) in their offices, Deloitte Canada has announced that it is now accepting bitcoin at Bistro 1858, the Toronto office’s internal restaurant.
Since the installation of the BTM in the fall of 2016, Deloitte’s Toronto office has seen tremendous adoption and understanding of the cryptocurrency, and its underlying technology blockchain.
“After placing a BTM in our offices and seeing Deloitte personnel downloading a wallet and buying their first fraction of a bitcoin, it seemed natural to enable the next step of the use case under our own roof,” said Ian Chan, Partner, Deloitte.
The goal is to enable users to buy bitcoin from the BTM, and then pay for a meal in the Bistro 1858 in bitcoin. The amount of bitcoin purchased and subsequently spent would be reflected in their wallet app almost immediately.
Deloitte co-operates Bistro 1858 with Benchmark Hospitality and they have been working together to integrate bitcoin payment processing with their current Point-of-Sale system and procedures. Deloitte and Benchmark have selected BitPay, a leading global bitcoin payment service provider, to accept and settle transactions.
“We’re excited to see a leading company like Deloitte exploring the possibilities with bitcoin payments,” says BitPay CEO Stephen Pair. “We hope this test case will show users on a small scale what bitcoin can do for online payments and what BitPay is doing for businesses transferring value globally.”
Iliana Oris Valiente, Strategy Leader, Rubix by Deloitte adds that bitcoin is only one example of a use case of blockchain technology. “By allowing individuals to buy and sell bitcoin with our BTM, and now to buy their lunch with bitcoin, we’re demonstrating that the blockchain experience for the front-end user is not all that complicated. What is important to realize, however, is that the back-end technology has fundamentally changed.”
This move represents another step forward in Deloitte’s involvement in the blockchain space. Rubix by Deloitte, the blockchain development hub in Canada, has been building decentralized applications (Dapps) and providing blockchain advisory services for clients since 2015. Working across financial services, insurance, healthcare, supply chain and government use cases, Deloitte has been providing a wide range of services to clients worldwide.
About Deloitte
Deloitte, one of Canada’s leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. Deloitte LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, is the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.